People Management in Multinational

Organizations (26E03400, 6 ECTS)

SYLLABUS
Version 1 (Jan 27, 2015)

Instructors contact information

Course information

Kristiina Mkel
kristiina.makela@aalto.fi
Arkadia F2.11
Office hours: Meeting upon request
https://people.aalto.fi/index.html?language=english#kristiina
_makela
Twitter: @KristiinaMakela

M&IB MSc program, elective course

Academic Year 2014-15, Period IV
AE-341
Language of Instruction: English
https://noppa.aalto.fi/noppa/kurssi/26e03400/
etusivu

1. OVERVIEW
The course examines issues and challenges related to people management in a multinational context.
People are considered as one of the most, if not the most, important resources for the global
competitiveness of firms, and yet the challenge of effective people management is greatest in multinational
firms operating across very different geographical, cultural and institutional environments. The course is
divided into three broad themes: (i) the link between firm strategy, capabilities and HR; (ii) global HRM
practices such as performance and talent management, and expatriation; and (iii) HRs role in facilitating
effective work across the global organization.

2. PREREQUISITES
The course is part of MSc studies.
3. LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of the course, students should understand (i) the link between firm strategy, capabilities
and human resources (HR), (ii) the role of HR in managing a global workforce and (iii) how HR can facilitate
value creation through the means of social architecture and change management.

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4. ASSESSMENT AND GRADING

In-class mini-cases

20 % (4 x 5 p.)

Pre-assignments for Sessions 5 & 6

20% (2 x 10 p.)

Student portfolio

50 % (5 x 10 p.)

Active class preparation and participation

10% (10 x 1 p.)

5. ASSIGNMENTS
In-class mini-cases:
All case assignments will be done in class as group work (the cases will be given in class, there is no need
to prepare beforehand, and groups will be different for each case). The dates for each case are given below.
Grading for the case assignments is 0-5 points per case and criteria for evaluating the case assignments are
given during the first lecture. More detailed instructions for each case are given in class. The case solutions
and evaluation will be discussed in class and (general) feedback given. Individual feedback is available upon
request.
Case 1:

26.2.

Case 2:

3.3.

Case 3:

19.3.

Case 4:

26.3.

Pre-assignments for Sessions 5 and 6:

Pre-assignment 1: Kone case (Session 5)

The Kone case will be distributed on the first lecture, and is available upon request from the teacher during
consecutive lectures. Analyze the case and answer the following questions:
1. Critically evaluate KONEs global talent management activities. What kinds of improvements should
KONE still make?
2. How would you describe the challenges KONE is facing in China?
2a. What should KONE do in China?
2b. Should KONE transfer some of its talent management practices in China to other parts of the
global corporation?
Format: 3-5 powerpoint slides
Deadline: at the start of Session 5 (10.3.) in paper copy.

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Pre-assignment 2: Expatriate interview (Session 6)

Traditionally "expatriate" is a definition of an employee who is sent overseas by one's home organization for
a defined time period; assignment typically lasting 2-4 years. As will be discussed on the lecture covering
international assignments, expatriation is a process rather than an event. The process begins long before the
expatriate is abroad, and ends after the return back home. Phases of a typical expatriation process (e.g.
Adler 1991; Antal 2001) can include: 1) recruitment, 2) orientation to the new job and culture, 3) the
actual assignment abroad, 4) localizing one's position or mentoring the next selected expatriate, 5) clarifying
one's own return assignment, 6) return back home and sharing knowledge as a repatriate.
Your task is to interview an expatriate you know and inquire which phase(s) of her/his assignment was the
most challenging and why.
Format: 3-5 powerpoint slides
Deadline: E-mail the paper by 11.3. at 16:00 to sami.itani@aalto.fi.

Student portfolio:
You are required to produce a personal portfolio of five assignments that support the learning objectives and
are based on the lectures, any potential readings and other material, and personal reflection. These
assignments will be given during the lectures at relevant points, and THEY SHOULD NOT BE DONE IN
ADVANCE. For clarity, all portfolio assignments are summarized below.
Format:
The student portfolio assignments are returned together as a portfolio, in which each assignment is clearly
titled. The format of all assignments is 3-5 powerpoint slides / assignment (more information at the
introductory lecture). Please make sure that your name and student number appears on every page.
Deadline:
Deadline for all Portfolio Assignments is April 17 @ 10:00, and they need to be returned in paper copy to
a box outside M&IB study coordinator Hanne Kauppilas office (F2.20, in Arkadia). Please note the
following exception with regard to Portfolio Assignment 1 Part 1: please return this assignment in
paper copy to the 26.2. lecture, in addition to including it in the final portfolio.

Portfolio Assignment 1: Learning Diary

(NOTE: Part 1 due 26.2.; full assignment due 17.4.)
PART 1: Initial thoughts:
Reflect upon what people management means to you:

Is it important? Why? What specifically is important? What is less important?

What did I learn from Mikkos & Aris visit? In terms of people management? In terms of my
personal learning? Anything I now think about differently?
What expectations for the course did I have beforehand? What expectations do I have now?

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PART 2: Putting it all together:

a. Prepare a mind map of what you have learned (group or individual work; we will work on this
during the last lecture 2.4.)
b. Reflect upon the following questions (this part is individual work):
What were the most important take-outs of the course for you personally?
How has your thinking about people management evolved during the course (compare
to initial thoughts in Part 1)?
What (if anything) you will think about and/or do differently from now on?
Portfolio Assignment 2: Working effectively within the global organization Case Nestl
Analyse how Nestl Finland is working with the global Nestl organization, and why. What are the
benefits and challenges they face? Use the different perspectives we have discussed in class (e.g.,
strategy, fit, control & coordination, HRM practices, social architecture) and consider both local
(subsidiary) and global (corporate and/or regional headquarters) perspectives.
In addition to class material and the Nestl visit, you can also use other reference material as
sources. Remember proper referencing.

Portfolio Assignment 3: Roles and realities of the HR Function

For this assignment, you will expose yourself with the everyday life and thinking of HR professionals
what kinds of issues are on their minds and what the discussions are about. In order to do this you
need to start following the online forums of HR professionals. You choose what to follow, but here
are some pointers:
http://shrm.org/pages/default.aspx is a US based and worlds largest professional association of HR
professionals (Twitter: @SHRM & @HRMagazineSHRM)
http://www.cipd.co.uk is the UKs professional body of HR and people development (Twitter: @CIPD
& @PeopleMgt)
http://www.hr.com is a large social network and online community of HR execs mainly in the US.
(Twitter: @hrdotcom)
http://www.tlnt.com is a US-based HR Certification institute that has an active online forum (Twitter:
@TLNT_com)
http://www.personneltoday.com is the UKs biggest free-access online HR forum (Twitter:
@personneltoday)
http://www.hrzone.com is a curated online HR network in the UK (Twitter: @HRZone)
https://hbrblogs.wordpress.com Harvard Business Review has a thriving general management blog
network, which has a lot of people management -related content. Please keep in mind that the first
15 articles that you read per month (per device) are free (if you register, first 5 free without
registering) (Twitter: @HarvardBiz)
For those of you who speak Finnish, http://henry.fi is the Finnish Association for Human Resources
Management, and worth getting acquainted with if you consider an HR-related career in Finland
(Twitter: @HENRYry_fin but they are not very active on Twitter). Also LinkedIn has several Finnish
HR-related groups that you may want to add to your list to follow, if you are active in LinkedIn.

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Friendly tips:
The most effective and time saving way of following the discussion is to get a Twitter account and
start following HR-related content in small bites, rather than doing a massive on-off web-search.
Also, I follow people-related issues actively in Twitter, and will share links that I find relevant and
useful, both for the purpose of this assignment and also more generally (@KristiinaMakela).
The assignment:
Building on the above and the in-person visits of HR professionals in the course, reflect upon the
following questions:

How do the frameworks of HR functions roles compare to the real life of HR managers?
What are the most frequent themes, tensions, or challenges that occupy the mind and attention
of HR professionals? Why?
Use both theory and practical examples to illustrate the points you make.

Portfolio Assignment 4: Managing change Cases Alko and Suomen matkatoimisto (SMT)
Building on what you have learned in class, analyze the situation of both companies, and provide a
recommendation to their HR-managers:
- What should Tytti Bergman (Alko) do next and why? (1 ppt-slide)
- What should Anna Ruotsalainen (SMT) do next and why? (1 ppt-slide)
Note for format: 2 ppt-slides only (1 slide for Alko, 1 slide for SMT). Write your name, student
number, and e-mail address on both pages.
Note for evaluation: The slides will be given to the company representatives, and 60% of your
evaluation for this assignment will be based on how useful they consider your suggestions to be
(each company representative will award 1-3 points for the practical usefulness of your suggestions;
max. 6 points). I will award the remaining 40% (max. 4 points) for the quality of analysis.

Portfolio Assignment 5: Building Personal People-Related Competencies

Building upon the visits of the top and HR managers in our course, and Portfolio Assignment 4,
systematically analyse your own people management and leadership skills:

What competencies should people dealing with HR issues have in order to successful (from
the perspective of HR professionals and line managers with supervisory responsibilities)?

What are your personal strengths and development areas in terms of these? Looking ahead,
is there anything that you will start doing / do differently as a result? What actions will you
take and tools will you use?

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Active preparation and participation

Although lectures are not compulsory, you will learn most if you participate actively. In fact, the course and
its assignments are designed in such a way that it is very difficult to pass the course without participating
actively. In addition, the course is going to be very interactive, so please be prepared to not only be present
but also participate in discussions and other activities actively.
To this end, 10% of the course evaluation will be based on active preparation and participation, as follows:

We will have a short pre-reading for each class, in order to expose you with relevant academic
literature for each topic. If you want to get the active preparation points (max. 10 x 1 p.) you will need
to read the assigned article(s) and prepare a one ppt-slide summary of the article(s), which you bring
into class at the start of the lecture in paper copy. These will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis, and
one point will be awarded for each one. You may also be required to give a short brief about the
preparatory reading to the rest of class.
Format: 1 ppt-slide
Deadline: At the start of each session in paper copy (you get maximum points if you do the prereading assignment for 10 out 11 sessions)
In addition, you can also get 2 points as an extra bonus, if you participate very actively. I will award
these bonus points at the end of the course for students who have contributed to the class most
positively.

Note for all assignments:

Please note that none of the above assignments are compulsory, you will just not get the points for those
that you miss. However, in order to ensure the same rules for all students, the deadlines are non-negotiable
and assignments cannot be compensated with a different one.

6. READINGS
Please see the preliminary schedule below.
7. PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
Time

Location

Content

Tue 24.2.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 1: COMPULSORY
Topic:
-Introduction
-Why people management?
Visitor(s):
-Mikko Misukka, CEO, Sogeti Oy,
-Ari Mkel, Managing Director, Nordic Investment Banking,
Citigroup
Reading:
-n/a
Assignment:
Portfolio Assignment 1 based on this session (Part 1 due in
paper copy 26.2. & together with Part 2 17.4.)

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Thu 26.2.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 2:
Topic:
-Different multinational strategies and their people
consequences
Visitor(s):
-n/a
Reading:
-Evans, P., Pucik, V. & Bjrkman, I. (2011) The Global
Challenge: International Human Resource Management.
Chapters 3 & 4.
Assignment:
-Portfolio assignment 1, Part 1 due in paper copy at the start
of the lecture
-Case 1

Tue 3.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 3:
Topic:
-Control and coordination
-Global performance management
Visitor(s):
-n/a
Reading:
Martinez, J. & Jarillo, C. (1989) The Evolution of Research on
Coordination Mechanisms in Multinational Corporations.
Journal of International Business Studies, 20, 3, 489-514.
Assignment:
-Case 2

Thu 5.3.
9:00-11:30

Nestl
Finland,
Keilasatama
5, Espoo

Session 4:
Topic:
-Working effectively within the global organization
Visitor(s):
-This session is held at Nestl Finland, Keilasatama 5, Espoo
(Keilaniemi)
-Host: Kaisa Merentie, HR coordinator, Nestl Finland
Reading:
Evans, P., Pucik, V. & Bjrkman, I. (2011) The Global
Challenge: International Human Resource Management.
Chapter 5. Also read the Nestl case on pp. 170-171.
Assignment:
Portfolio assignment 2 is based on this session (Due 17.4.)

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Tue 10.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 5:
Topic:
-Talent management
Visitor(s):
-This session will be taught by Ingmar Bjrkman
Reading:
-Stahl, G. Bjrkman, I., Farndale, E., Morris, S., Paauwe, J.,
Stiles, P., Trevor, J. & Wright, P. (2012). Six principles of
global talent management. MIT Sloan Management Review,
53(2), 2532.
Assignment:
-Pre-assignment 1 (Kone case) due at the start of the lecture
(in paper copy).

Thu 12.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 6:
Topic:
-Expatriation
Visitor(s):
-This session will be taught by Sami Itani
Reading:
Bonache, J., Brewster, C. & Suutari, V. 2001. Expatriation: A
Developing Research Agenda. Thunderbird International
Business Review, Vol. 43(1), pp. 3-20.
Assignment:
Pre-assignment 2 (expatriate interview) due by 11.3. (e-mail
to sami.itani@aalto.fi)

Tue 17.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 7:
Topic:
-Roles and realities of the HR function
Visitor(s):
-Maria Lundell, SVP Human Resources, Enfo Oy, and HR
Manager of the Year 2012
Reading:
Ulrich, D., Younger, J. & Brockbank, W. (2008) The twenty
firstcentury HR organization. Human Resource
Management, 47:4, 829-850.
Assignment:
Portfolio assignment 3 is based on this session (Due 17.4.)

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Thu 19.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 8:
Topic:
- Social architecture: Social capital
Visitor(s):
-n/a
Reading:
Adler, P.S. & Kwon, S.-W. (2002) Social Capital: Prospects
for a New Concept. Academy of Management Review, 27,
17-40.
Assignment:
Case 3

Tue 24.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 9:
Topic:
-Managing organizational change
Visitor(s):
-Tytti Bergman, Executive Vice President, Alko Oyj
-Anna Ruotsalainen, Director HR & HRD, Suomen
Matkatoimisto (SMT)
Reading:
Meyerson, D. & Martin, J. (1987) Cultural change: An
integration of three different views. Journal of Management
Studies, 24:6, 623-647.
Assignment:
Portfolio assignment 4 is based on this session (due 17.4.)

Thu 26.3.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 10:
Topic:
- Social architecture: Organizational culture
Visitor(s):
n/a
Reading:
-Evans, P., Pucik, V. & Bjrkman, I. (2011) The Global
Challenge: International Human Resource Management.
Chapter 11.
Assignment:
Case 4

Tue 31.3.
9:00-11:30
(detailed
instructions will
be given in the
first lecture)

AE-341

Session 11:
Topic:
-Organizational culture: Excursion to Marimekko
Visitor(s):
-This session will be held at Marimekko Oy, Puusepnkatu 4,
Herttoniemi.
-Host Kitty Ihamuotila, Head of PR, Marimekko Oy

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Reading:
Barney, J.B. (1986) Organizational culture: can it be a source
of sustained competitive advantage? Academy of
Management Review 11:3, 656-665.
Assignment:
n/a
Thu 2.4.
9:00-11:30

AE-341

Session 12:
Topic:
-Putting it all together
-Individual feedback session
Visitor(s):
-n/a
Reading:
-Bjrkman, I. & Welch, D. (2015) Framing the field of
international human resource management research. Journal
of Human Resource Management, 26:2, 136-150.
Assignment:
Part of Portfolio Assignment 1 will be done on this session
(due 17.4.)

8. COURSE WORKLOAD

Classroom hours

30

Class preparation

10

Assignments

120

Total

160h (6 op)

9. ETHICAL RULES
Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity and Handling Thereof>
https://into.aalto.fi/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=3772443

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